Restoration Plan

Appendix 5

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APPENDIX 5
POSSIBLE INDICATORS OF CATCHMENT HEALTH

(adapted from Duxbury, 2003)
Table A - Characteristic: quality of water in waterways and lakes

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Frequency, size and content of algal blooms State not annually long term Do not currently measure size. Current sampling by DoE is a bit coarse as only monthly. Need to show the waterbodies separately The number of blooms and how toxic
Flow of rivers and streams Driving force Important for ecological requirements of rivers and lakes. Currently monitored by DoE. This is a central question in Paul Close's PhD. It is needed if water is to be extracted from Marbellup Brook  
Can you drink the water? State ? Not currently collecting data on pathogens or chemicals only salinity. Need to record on each river. Monitoring beyond salinity would need more frequent sampling and funding  
Can you swim in the water? State ? Same as above Relates to recreational use
Estimated tonnes of P and N discharged from point sources Driving force
estimates
estimates
estimates 		Can use estimates and model developed by Simon Neville and David Weaver. If want greater accuracy expensive to collect data  
Estimated tonnes of P and N discharged from diffuse sources Driving force estimates need to be calculated no - needs land use survey ? Estimates from diffuse sources for Torbay catchment have not yet been calculated  
Loads of N and P from rivers State not really very long term (>10 years) Currently done by DoE. Good for comparison across different waterways but not over time because of yearly variability due to weather conditions  
Concentrations of N and P from rivers State not really long term (>5 years)
limited sampling points 		Currently done by DoE. For six sites. Monitoring points are at the bottom of each sub catchment and are therefore insensitive to changes in part of sub catchments. Sampling 60 sites would show local changes  
Catchment nutrient balance Driving force not bad should be Data not yet fully collected don't know yet    
Invertebrate species and numbers of each species State
high for comprehensive sampling 		Quite high labour and testing costs. Does the community understand the importance of invertebrates as an indicator?  

Technical input: Andrew Maughan, Naomi Arrowsmith, Dave Rushton - DoE

Table B - Characteristic: Weed infestation in the catchment

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Number of different problem weed species State not bad not bad state of veg. for limited weeds City of Albany road survey and TCG, but no private land information  
Extent of weed infestation State depends on weeds chosen OK for limited number state of veg. Would need to select specific weeds. Linked to quarantine issues - imported hay, utility land management  
Number of new weeds State less so Linked to quarantine issues - imported hay, utility land management  
Area of weed control annually and cumulative - 1, 2 and 3 years Response and driving force
hard for private land 		no City of Albany road survey and TCG, but no private land info readily available. Good feedback for TCG  
% of households removing problem plants from gardens Driving force ? ? no
if by survey 		Difficult to gather meaningful data. Would be good for awareness raising  
Amount of imported hay Driving force hard to quantify don't need exact numbers
?
very good 		  hard Important contributor to introduction of weeds. But not an issue in the Torbay catchment as it is typically an exporter rather than importer of hay There is little hay imported, in fact more is sold out of the catchment. So not relevant to Torbay

Table C - Characteristic: Level of protection and extent of native vegetation and fauna

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Area of vegetation protected in conservation estate Response depends no ? is this a community goal?   hard Will remain static in terms of extent but there may be changes in the health of the vegetation  
Number of ecosystem types represented in protected areas State depends ?  
to come with IMGs 		Fairly static. Extent and health will depend on management particularly of vegetation on City of Albany reserves and private property  
% of catchment area with tree cover State DoE will do this data collection  
Annual biodiversity plantings Response depends OK raises awareness    
Area of land cleared annually for farming or urban development Driving force
should be! 		DoE is intending to collect this data. Areas by location. Will only collect on people who have applied for permits to clear. No incremental clearing by default  
Status of threatened species State not so good locally ? Status of threatened species is a state wide measure - is it relevant to the catchment? A measure of biodiversity of native fauna and number of species might be more appropriate  

Technical input: Melanie Price, Department of Environment (previously Environmental Officer, City of Albany) and Sarah Comer, ecologist, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Albany region

Table D - Characteristic: Level of rehabilitation of waterways and drains with vegetation and bank stabilising

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Fringing vegetation species and abundance Driving Force long term long term hard to monitor expensive no Needs extensive botanical knowledge for high level of data - costly  
Level of foreshore protected - length of waterways fenced at different stream orders, area of revegetation Response not really Is being collected already. Helps measure community interest and motivation levels  
Foreshore condition including regeneration rates (every five years) State general trends medium every five years no Has been done once for most of major streams in Torbay. Provides good information on general condition and trends. It is labour intensive  
Level of stock access to waterways - number of constructed stock crossings and offstream watering points Response Is being collected already. Helps measure community interest and motivation levels  

Technical input: David Rushton, Department of Environment

Table E - Characteristic: Status of fish stocks in the Inlet and waterways

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Fish harvest rates compared to the growth rate of the fish - using target species Black Bream State long term often used top of food web ? Overall collection of fish harvest rates over growth is difficult as fish are hard to gather. Setting up a tagging study on black bream is reliant on fishermen, good media, signage and funding Ask Fisheries - Rod Lenentan Perth
Observed over expected range of species in waterways including number of exotics State not great not high priority no We lave low diversity of species as a baseline so more difficult to measure change. Could include this in the invertebrate sampling Presence or absence
Observed over expected range of species in the inlet including number of exotics State       Easy to monitor & commonly used         This would require a study of the fish community and how it works in Torbay especially as the estuarine environment is so changeable do to the opening of the bar and behaviour at different times of the year. Would need frequent sampling.  
How well do the streams function? Driving Force not immediately no Use index of stream condition developed elsewhere includes how good is habitat for fish, how stable are stream banks. Could be done at same time as five year foreshore condition surveying  

Technical input: Paul Close, PhD student, Centre for Excellence in Natural Resource Management

Table F - Characteristic: Income levels of people living in the catchment

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Weekly family income compared to state average State Measures economic health  
Level of local employment Driving force what does it mean? ? needs a survey not really don't know needs a survey   Does this reflect an economically healthy community?  
Profitability of local business Driving force                 Covered by income  
Level of diversification of farm businesses Driving Force reasonably needs a survey needs a survey This is a characteristic of a successful region - less vulnerable to shocks in individual industries  
Level of education achieved Driving force not really ABS collects. Don't look at in isolation from other indicators  
Distribution of income gap between richest 10% and poorest 10% State                 Assumes income equality is a good thing. More relevant to industrial based economies  
Where do people spend their money? Driving force no data ? needs a survey   People live in Torbay for lifestyle - how important do they see local spending?  
Good infrastructure eg. internet, roads, electricity Driving force hard subjective ? no data needs a survey      

Table G - Characteristic: Level of community participation in local organisations

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Number of farmers adopting best management land use practices (testing soil before fertilising, tree planting, fencing streams, perennial pastures etc.) Response provided you have data! general - whether adopting or not needs a survey needs a survey   Is being gathered as part of Watershed Torbay project  
Number of households involved in community groups and number of community groups State       Needs a survey     Needs a survey   Was included in the catchment survey 2002  
% voting in local government elections (every two years) State    

Technical input: Duane Schouten, Great Southern Development Commission

Table H - Characteristic: Degree of satisfaction about living in the catchment area

Possible Indicator
 SMART - Simple, Measurable, Accessible, Relevant, Timely Indicators selected by Technical Support and Comments
 Indicators selected by Community Members of WTG
Driving force, state or response Easy to interpret Statistically meaningful Can show trends Easy to monitor, commonly used Relevant to community goals A good warning for other problems Affordable Action-based with targets and timeline
Average number of years residing in catchment State not so much not really ABS data  
Level of satisfaction State qualitative - needs a survey difficult maybe needs a survey       not really Requires regular surveying - responses can be variable very subjective! Perhaps include in survey with a list checklist: safety, services, living rurally etc.
Catchment population growth rates Response Either high or negative growth rate can be a problem. Age profile is important - want an even spread  
Attractive residential destination - measures by number and value of housing approvals Response City of Albany data. Useful as long as there are not constraints to subdivisions in Torbay that would bias data  
Feelings of safety Response not bad needs a survey needs a survey Could also tie this into local crime rate trends  

Technical input: Duane Schouten, Great Southern Development Commission


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